Right now, this is a space to practice scrollytelling, but it will eventually be a fully-reported piece.

Below, you will see data from the National Inventory of Dams, which documents all of the known dams in the country.

Georgia is home to over 5,500 dams, the fifth-most in the country.

A closer look at the dams in Georgia

Sallacoa Creek Watershed Dam No. 77

Location: Gordon County

Purpose: Flood risk reduction

Height: 56 ft.

Condition: Unsatisfactory

Last Inspection: March 22, 2016

Cochran Lake Dam

Location: Cobb County

Purpose: Recreation

Height: 31 ft.

Condition: Unsatisfactory

Last inspection: March 7, 2019

Dams with

no owner

of record

Sallacoa Creek Watershed Dam No. 77

Location: Gordon County

Purpose: Flood risk reduction

Height: 56 ft.

Condition: Unsatisfactory

Last Inspection: March 22, 2016

Cochran Lake Dam

Location: Cobb County

Purpose: Recreation

Height: 31 ft.

Condition: Unsatisfactory

Last inspection: March 7, 2019

Dams with

no owner

of record

There are 5,533 recorded dams in Georgia.

High-hazard, or "Category I," dams are ones where failure would likely result in the loss of human life.

Georgia has the highest concentration of high-hazard dams in poor condition in the country. "Poor" condition means deficiencies were identified in the structure during its most recent inspection. State law requires these dams to be repaired.

At least 17 dams in Georgia have no owner of record. There are only two other dams in the country with no owner of record listed in the National Inventory of Dams.

Of the 657 high-hazard dams in the state, nearly 55 percent of them have not had their condition assessed in the last five years or more. The Georgia Safe Dams Act requires these dams be assessed every two years.

Georgia’s Safe Dams program is responsible for assessing the state’s Category II dams, those deemed to be lower potential hazards, every five years. But over a quarter of the state’s dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.